We arrived in Paris just before 3:00 on Tuesday and were immediately taken by the size and busyness of everything. The metro almost requires "pushers" at times, like in Japan.

Our hotel room is very small, and extremely basic; we hope the pattern of declining room quality reverses after this one. We set out right away to see the sights, but were hoping to reduce mileage on foot, as both of us agreed that our "dogs were really barking" after all of the walking so far.

We set out to l'arc de triomphe, which was, according to the front desk, 15-20 minutes on foot. A bit of an understatement by about 50% and through a less-than-warm-feeling neighborhood. As soon as we arrived, right on queue, it started to rain. Sans jacket(for James) or a parapluie, we abandoned plans to promenade down Champs Elysees, and headed underground via the métro to the Quartier Latin for dinner

. After a highly-rated place was closed (it was only 5:30 after all), we settled at a pub-style place that ended up impressing after all.

Next was a series of jaw-dropping sights as we walked back across Paris to the l'arc de triomphe. We entered Notre Dame, and the walked down the Seine, stopping in front of the Louvre for some pictures and soaking up the excesses in architecture, each architect seemingly trying to top the previous.

We strolled back up Champs, had a glass of wine at a café, and took the train home.

As we write this today, we are at Versailles chilling between the enormous gardens and the canal, but more on that next time.

Total kms yesterday on foot: 5.1 in Brussels, 16.7 in Paris.

What we are really missing so far is a good coffee. How has this entire continent so far failed to embrace what Canadians consider a basic morning necessity? There are espressos (2 oz for 2-3€) but no simple drip coffee so far.